Phacoemulsification (hereinafter, “phaco”) surgery has been successfully employed in the treatment of certain ocular problems, such as cataract surgery, including removal of a cataract-damaged lens and implanting an artificial intraocular lens. Phaco surgery typically involves removal of the cataract-damaged lens and may utilize a small incision at the edge of the cornea. Through the small incision, the surgeon then creates an opening in the capsule, i.e. membrane that encapsulates the lens.
Next, the surgeon may insert an ultrasonic probe, incorporated within the phaco handpiece, through the opening in the cornea and capsule accessing the damaged lens. The handpiece's ultrasonic actuated tip emulsifies the damaged lens sufficient to be evacuated by the handpiece. After the damaged natural lens is completely removed, the handpiece tip is withdrawn from the eye. The surgeon may now implant an intraocular lens into the space made available in the capsule.
As may be appreciated, the flow of fluid to and from a patient through a fluid infusion or extraction system and power control of the phaco handpiece is critical to the procedure performed. Different medically recognized techniques have been utilized for the lens removal portion of the surgery. Among these, one popular technique is a simultaneous combination of phaco, irrigation and aspiration using a single handpiece. Another technique is bimanual phaco, with separation of the phacoemulsification tip/aspiration handpiece from the infusion/second instrument handpiece. This method includes making the incision, inserting the handheld surgical implement to emulsify the cataract or eye lens. Simultaneously with this emulsification, the handpiece provides fluid for irrigation of the emulsified lens and vacuum for aspiration of the emulsified lens and inserted fluids.
Manufacturers of surgical systems typically provide their products with “recommended” or “default” settings. These settings are intended to provide acceptable performance of the instrument over a very wide variety of surgical conditions, thus enabling surgeons to utilize the system effectively without gaining an in-depth understanding of the system design. While this approach prevents the most blatant issues associated with inappropriate parameter settings, in most cases it does not result in the most efficient and time effective adjustment of the settings.
Many manufacturers also rely upon highly skilled “technical specialists” that can observe a surgeon utilizing, and subsequently can then tailor the settings to optimize the surgeon's performance. Typically, during this process, a technical specialist will offer a certain amount of input into the training concerning the design and performance of the system. The surgeon then becomes more able to adjust his own settings in the future. This approach has several drawbacks. First, the approach can be time consuming and expensive because it may take several days of operating room time for a technical specialist and a surgeon to agree on the ideal settings. Second, the approach is inconsistent because each technical specialist and surgeon may have a slightly different approach to the problem, or a slightly different concept of the “ideal” settings. Finally, technical specialist must be highly trained and as such, the number of technical specialist is limited.
The present invention not only solves the foregoing problems, but provides an effective and efficient way of customizing programs based on a user's preferences and performance. The present invention provides a system that monitors and analyzes performance of surgical systems, and recommends changes to a user's settings and/or programs.